final plagues

Good evening sisters and brothers,

The images of wrath continue. This passage has a really interesting parallel to the Exodus both because saints in heaven are singing the song of Moses that Moses and Miriam sang when Israel crossed the Red Sea into freedom from slavey. There's a sea too in this passage, but rather than a foamy, divided sea, it is smooth, made of glass. God's judgment is scary, but the end result is freedom from bondage and oppression. That's good news for the oppressed, for those whose faithfulness has been held against them, but it's not good news for those in power now. When we're honest, we all have some oppressor in us; that means we all need to repent in the face of God's judgment. But God judges to heal; he destroys, ultimately to bring peace and justice.

God bless,
Sam

Revelation 15:1-8

Then I saw another portent in heaven, great and amazing: seven angels with seven plagues, which are the last, for with them the wrath of God is ended. ²And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. ³And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! ⁴Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”

⁵After this I looked, and the temple of the tent of witness in heaven was opened, ⁶and out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, robed in pure bright linen, with golden sashes across their chests.⁷Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever; ⁸and the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power, and no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended.

Good evening friends, 

Today's reading gives us the Prophet Amos warning Israel about where their actions are leading them. God gives us a lot of freedom, but we are responsible for how we use that freedom. God (through Isaiah) warns Israel that worship, religion, and sacrifice are not the most important part of being faithful. The most important part of being faithful is treating others with justice and righteousness. When we treat our neighbors unjustly, even if we spend all our time in church, we're really worshiping an idol, and we'll be held responsible for that.

God bless,

Sam

Amos 5:16-27

¹⁶Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord: In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets they shall say, “Alas! alas!” They shall call the farmers to mourning, and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing; ¹⁷in all the vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. ¹⁸Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord! Why do you want the day of the Lord? It is darkness, not light; ¹⁹as if someone fled from a lion, and was met by a bear; or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall, and was bitten by a snake. ²⁰Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹I hate, I despise your festivals, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. ²²Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. ²³Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

²⁴But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream. ²⁵Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? ²⁶You shall take up Sakkuth your king, and Kaiwan your star-god, your images, which you made for yourselves; ²⁷therefore I will take you into exile beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts.

rights and relationships

Good afternoon friends,
It is certainly a beautiful day; I hope you're taking some time outside to enjoy it. Today's reading continues Paul's discussion on holding different opinions in the same community. He's talking specifically about food, which for many people was an expression of religion, but his point is much broader. We can believe different things about matters that aren't essential. That means, if you believe it's OK to eat any kind of food and you give thanks to God for it, that's fine. If you feel like you shouldn't eat some food, either because it represents another religion or for whatever reason, you shouldn't eat it. Even though it doesn't hurt God to eat it, if you believe it is wrong, you're going against your conscience and sinning if you eat it.

The other part of that freedom we have in Christ, and I think this is an interesting biblical idea when we think about things like gun control or free speech, is that love for our neighbor sometimes asks us to put our own rights aside. Paul says it's fine to eat whatever we want because all things are clean, at the same time, if eating something that other people might connect with idolatry risks leading them astray, the most loving thing could be not to eat it for the sake of the other person. We have great freedom in our faith and in our nation, but the most responsible and loving use of that freedom sometimes means accepting restrictions on what we have a right to for the sake of other people. In Christianity, love is the most important thing.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 14:13-23

13 Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling-block or hindrance in the way of another. ¹⁴I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. ¹⁵If your brother or sister is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. ¹⁶So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.

¹⁷For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸The one who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and has human approval. ¹⁹Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual edification. ²⁰Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for you to make others fall by what you eat; ²¹it is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble.

²²The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God. Blessed are those who have no reason to condemn themselves because of what they approve. ²³But those who have doubts are condemned if they eat, because they do not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

persecution and release

Good morning friends,
I hope you have some time today to enjoy 
friends and family. It's a great day to remember the blessings of 
freedom we have in our country and the sacrifice of those who have 
guaranteed them, both people in uniform and people organizing and 
protesting for civil rights. Please also pray for our nation, that we 
would continue the difficult and sacred pursuit of freedom for the 
common good.

Our reading today continues the story of an episode 
of persecution. King Herod killed James (son of Zebadee and brother of 
John, not the brother of Jesus) and put Peter in prison. God executes a 
jailbreak for Peter that is funny in its execution. The passage after 
that, which we'll skip, tells the story of Herod's death and summarizes a
 period of growth for the church. One of the great strengths of our 
faith is that we are strongest when we are weak. Even the power of royal
 persecution, when we respond in faith and openness with love, makes us 
stronger. That's also the brilliance of non-violent protest, as with 
think about civil rights struggles in the context of our nation's 
history.

God bless,
Sam
 

Acts 12:6-24

6 The very night before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. ⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, ‘Get up quickly.’ And the chains fell off his wrists. ⁸The angel said to him, ‘Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.’ He did so. Then he said to him, ‘Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.’

 ⁹Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening with the angel’s help was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰After they had passed the first and the second guard, they came before the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went outside and walked along a lane, when suddenly the angel left him. ¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.’

12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many had gathered and were praying. ¹³When he knocked at the outer gate, a maid named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵They said to her, ‘You are out of your mind!’ But she insisted that it was so. They said, ‘It is his angel.’ ¹⁶Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, ‘Tell this to James and to the believers.’ Then he left and went to another place.

18 When morning came, there was no small commotion among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹When Herod had searched for him and could not find him, he examined the guards and ordered them to be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

remember

Good afternoon friends,
I hope the weekend is treating you well. Our worship this morning was very relaxed, with "congregational choice" singing. It was great for me to be back at Laurelton after some time away. In our reading yesterday we talked about God making a covenant with Israel after bringing them out of slavery in Egypt. The next books of the Bible give more detail to God's covenant by telling stories of Israel in the desert following (and not following) God, as well as by teaching the laws. In today's reading we skip ahead to Deuteronomy where Moses makes final preparations for the people to enter the land without his leadership.

Blessings on your afternoon,
Sam

Deuteronomy 6:4-24

⁴Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. ⁷Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. ⁸Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, ⁹and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, ¹¹houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill, ¹²take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. ¹⁴Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, ¹⁵because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth. ¹⁶Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

¹⁷You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. ¹⁸Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, ¹⁹thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

²⁰When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” ²¹then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²²The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. ²³He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. ²⁴Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.

covenant

Good evening friends,
I'm home after an exhausting week in Pittsburgh for the PC (USA) general assembly. It was a tremendous blessing to be there, but it's good to be home. There's so much to digest, both intellectually, emotionally and spiritually. Tomorrow's worship will be very relaxed and we'll do some requests for hymns, so you might want to think of a favorite between now and then. In our reading we continue the story of Israel's liberation from slavery and formation as God's people. God continues his claim on us and covenant with us, as well as with the people of Israel. How is God calling to your today?

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 19:1-8

On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. ²They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ³Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: ⁴You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 

⁵Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, ⁶but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.” ⁷So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. ⁸The people all answered as one: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.” Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord.

freedom

Good afternoon brothers and sisters,
Blessings on the day as we celebrate and give thanks for the freedoms we enjoy in the United States and the courage of those who have sacrificed to secure those freedoms for us. I pray we would always use our freedom to serve others and to support peace and justice in the world. Our story today is appropriate as it continues the story of God bringing the people of Israel out of slaved into freedom. After the Israelites left slavery in Egypt the Egyptian elite decided they had made a mistake in letting their slaves go. The army pursued the Israelites and thought they had them trapped at the Red Sea. Our story reminds us that God can make a way where there seems to be no way. For that reason we can always be people of hope. I cling to that hope in the midst of the joys and sorrows of General Assembly and all of life.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 14:21-31

²¹Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land; and the waters were divided. ²²The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. ²³The Egyptians pursued, and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. 

²⁴At the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the Egyptian army, and threw the Egyptian army into panic. ²⁵He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.” ²⁶Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” ²⁷So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea.

²⁸The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. ²⁹But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. ³⁰Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

death and life

Good morning friends,
I hope your Easter was wonderful. Laurelton's sunrise service was lovely and our regular worship was joyful including many friends and a baptism. Christ's resurrection is a lot to reflect on, so we get a whole season to do it. I'll be doing lots of planning this week for the weeks ahead, so if there's anything you'd like to hear about in worship, please let me know.

Today's reading is a reflection on Christ's death and resurrection in terms of our baptism. In baptism we're joined to Christ's death and resurrection. Faith and baptism are not just some cultural ritual, they are a matter of life and death. We commit ourselves to Christ and put our trust in him.

blessings on your resurrection journey,
Sam
 

Romans 6:1-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ²By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

⁴Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

⁶We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. ⁷For whoever has died is freed from sin. ⁸But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. ¹⁰The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

nailed to the cross

Good afternoon friends,
There are two steps to understand today's reading. The first is that through faith in Christ we become part of him. In baptism we're joined in his death and burial and then in his resurrection. The second part is that through the cross, Jesus sets fulfills and sets aside the record of our sins that stands against us. In other words, the sins we've committed before are nailed to the cross and defeated. The power of hatred, sin and domination are also defeated at the cross. So joined to Christ our sin is overcome, our fear and striving are defeated, and we are set free for new life.

God bless,
Sam

Colossians 2:8-15

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. ¹¹In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; ¹²when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

¹³And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, ¹⁴erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

liberty and law

Good morning sisters and brothers,
We often think of commandments as the opposite of freedom. Our reading has a different view: God's law teaches us true freedom. When we follow God's guidance for a just society and a faithful life we become free from the tyranny of greed, idolatry, oppression and fear. It's not the freedom of doing whatever we feel like, but the deeper, truer freedom of being who we are meant to be. When we take things a step further through the gospel of Jesus, we become free from the religious requirements of the law in the perfect freedom of submission to Christ's calling. It's harder than following a simple list of rules, but true freedom comes from following God.

Blessings,
Sam

Psalm 119:41-50

Let your steadfast love come to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your promise.

⁴²Then I shall have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust in your word.

⁴³Do not take the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your ordinances.

⁴⁴I will keep your law continually, forever and ever.

⁴⁵I shall walk at liberty, for I have sought your precepts.

⁴⁶I will also speak of your decrees before kings, and shall not be put to shame;

⁴⁷I find my delight in your commandments, because I love them.

⁴⁸I revere your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.

⁴⁹Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.

⁵⁰This is my comfort in my distress, that your promise gives me life.

perfect love casts out fear

Good morning friends,
First, I'd like to ask you to keep our secretary Maria Bennett's father in prayer for God's healing touch. He's at Rochester General with pneumonia and needs God's care. Please also keep his wife, Ginny, and the whole family in prayer.

Our reading from 1 John tells us that God is love and the only way we know God is through love. God allows us to love by loving us. We respond by loving God, but even more, by loving other people. How we treat others is the test for whether we truly love God. When we really do love God and others, and we know that God loves us, fear will vanish because we know that love wins.

Blessings on your love today,
Sam

1 John 4:7-21

⁷Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

¹⁴And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

the enemy approaches

Good morning friends,
Unfortunately, just as Pharaoh changed his mind about letting Israel go before, he changes his mind this last time too, even though Israel has already left. Understandably, the Israelites are scared to see the Egyptian army. This is one of the most powerful armies in the world, and Israel hasn't had a chance to be a nation or to develop an army. We'll hear this refrain many more times as Israel journeys with God through the wilderness. Time and again the people complain about the journey and long for the security of Egypt, even in slavery. It takes time to make a nation of free people who can use their freedom well. Good thing God is patient and doesn't give up on Israel or on us.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 14:5-14

5When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” 6So he had his chariot made ready, and took his army with him; 7he took six hundred picked chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out boldly. 9The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot drivers and his army; they overtook them camped by the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.



10As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. 11They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? 12Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone and let us serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. 14The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”

leaving slavery

Good morning sisters and brothers,
On Sunday I mentioned that I was going to start reading the Bible over the next year, and I invited people to join me. It takes about 15 minutes a day and is very rewarding. I figured if we have a group reading together we could get together once or twice a month to talk about what we're reading. We could also set up some kind of online venue to share thoughts between meetings. This isn't meant to be arduous, but supportive. It also won't replace the daily readings for me; I'll still send these out. But if you're interested in reading the Bible with a small group, we'll begin on Sunday. Send me an email so I can put together a group list and send you a reading plan to organize the reading. You won't regret the time you spend with it.

Today's reading relates the actual departure of Israel from Egypt after 430 years there. It tells us that God kept vigil over Israel to bring them out and that Israel still keeps vigil on that night annually to remember God's deliverance. There are moments that define who we are as people and who we are nationally. This moment is one of the most important events that shape Jewish identity to this day.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 12:37-42

37The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. 38A mixed crowd also went up with them, and livestock in great numbers, both flocks and herds. 39They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. 40The time that the Israelites had lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. 41At the end of four hundred thirty years, on that very day, all the companies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. 42That was for the Lord a night of vigil, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That same night is a vigil to be kept for the Lord by all the Israelites throughout their generations.

last chance

Good morning friends,
We skip forward a bit further for today’s reading. After Moses and Aaron first asked Pharaoh to free the Israelites and he refused, they performed miracles to show they were from God. Then God began sending plagues on Egypt through Moses and Aaron. At first, like when they turned the Nile to blood, the Egyptian magicians could keep up. As the plagues continued, including first a huge swarm of gnats and later flies and frogs, the magicians couldn’t duplicate the signs.

Several times in the sequence Pharaoh agrees to let the people go, but sets conditions Moses won’t accept. Other times he allows them to leave but changes his mind once Moses removes the plague. That continues through many plagues before we come to our final plague in today’s reading.

God bless,
Sam

Exodus 11:1-10
The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterwards he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away. 2Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.” 3The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people.

4Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: About midnight I will go out through Egypt. 5Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the livestock. 6Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again. 7But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me, and bow low to me, saying, ‘Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.

9The Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, in order that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” 10Moses and Aaron performed all these wonders before Pharaoh; but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the people of Israel go out of his land.

law and sin

Good morning (or evening) sisters and brothers,
Paul has been talking about how the law used to bind us but now we are free in Christ. Today he anticipates a question: "Is the Law sin?" He firmly says it is not. In fact he recognizes God's law as holy and good. At the same time he also recognizes that the power of sin uses the law (like it uses most good things) to tempt us and capture us. The example he uses is coveting. He says he wouldn't even know what coveting was if it wasn't against the law. Once the law tells him that, sin leads him to desire all kinds of things that belong to others. Maybe you've had the same experience with kids: you tell them not to do something and it makes them want to do it so much more. The problem isn't that your rule is bad, but part of us wants to do things just because they are off limits. Of course the freedom we have in Christ can tempt us too, but that's a discussion for another day.
God bless,
Sam

Romans 7:7-14

7What then should we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8But sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. 9I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived 10and I died, and the very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11For sin, seizing an opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. 13Did what is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.

14For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin.

lamentation and freedom

Psalm 13:1-6
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul,
and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.

I want to spend most of our Bible time with our New Testament lesson, but I just couldn’t let this beautiful Psalm sit untouched. I couldn’t leave this painfully honest Psalm alone because too often the church isn’t painfully honest.

We put on our best faces for church, maybe we put on our best faces for other people in general. Someone asks how we’re doing and we say something socially acceptable. That’s actually an OK habit to be in a lot of the time. It’s not a great idea to pour our guts out to everyone we meet. But when we take it too far it kills genuine community and relationship.

When we come to church we are with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That means we are supposed to be in a safe place for honesty; a place we can share our struggles and our pain. We’re family, so we should be able to be vulnerable with each other.

But that’s not always how it feels. One thing that gets in the way of honesty and openness is Sunday best syndrome. We feel like since our outfits are well put together, we’re supposed to button up our troubles too. We shine our shoes and our smiles and we tuck our problems and doubts under the carpet so we can do church “the right way.”

That’s the smaller part of the problem. The bigger issue is that we feel we have to be careful with God. We use carefully crafted words and scripted prayers to talk to the God who is high above in heaven. The language in the Bible is stilted and our worship language doesn’t usually sound like how we would have a conversation. We don’t want to say the wrong thing or offend God.

The truth is that God can take it. Look at this Psalm: “How long O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” Have you ever felt that way before? Did you cry out to God like the Psalmist did? Our polite religious tradition is hard to break, but when we open ourselves to God and to each other we learn how to actually trust God. Look where the Psalm ends up: “I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” If we open ourselves up and trust God with our doubt and pain, we’ll find out for ourselves that we can count on God. If we handle God like fragile, precious crystal we’ll never find out how strong and supportive God really is.

dead to law

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Saturday (and yesterday in worship) we read Paul talking about the freedom from sin to belong to God. Today he talks about being free from the Law to belong to God. As a devout Jew the Law of Moses played an important role in Paul's life. As an apostle of Jesus, Paul still respects the Law. At the same time he sees its limitations clearly. When we live trying to follow a set of rules we often find ourselves resenting the limitations and thinking less about the purpose behind those rules. Paul even says that by describing and forbidding sin, the law "arouses" sin in us by making us more aware of it. A lot of people who grow up in the church would see Christianity in the same way. Many people experience a bunch of rules that arbitrarily tell us what we can't do. That's not really our calling in Christ. In our baptism into Christ we died to the Law and to sin so we can be alive and free to follow God.
blessings on your week,
Sam

Romans 7:1-6

Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only during that person’s lifetime? 2Thus a married woman is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies, she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. 3Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man, she is not an adulteress.



4In the same way, my friends, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.

slaves to sin or slaves to righteousness?

Good morning sisters and brothers,
Paul does something very interesting in this passage. A criticism Paul seems to have faced was that by telling people they didn't have to follow the Law of Moses he was encouraging people to behave badly. In other words, Paul was giving people too much freedom with his teaching, and that was risky. Paul turns that argument around in a very helpful way by saying that sin takes away our freedom. He argues that when we sin we give up our freedom and become slaves to sin. While freedom is extremely important for Paul, he believes that we choose who we obey. We can either obey sin, which is slavery to evil, or we can obey God's calling and be slaves of righteousness. We'll be chewing on this passage a bit more in worship tomorrow; I hope to see you then.

Saturday blessings,
Sam

Romans 6:12-23

12Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.



15What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.


20When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

baptized into death

Good morning sisters and brothers,
We pick up Paul's Letter to the Romans today (and Sunday in worship) after being away from it since before Lent. This letter is one of the most important in the Bible; it's also pretty challenging. To bring us up to speed very quickly, Paul begins the letter by explaining how both Jews and gentiles should know God but fall short of what he wants. God steps into that situation by forgiving our sins by grace through Jesus Christ. He explains that sin came into the world through one man, Adam, and forgiveness comes into the world through the one man Jesus Christ.

As we begin chapter 6 he explains one way of seeing how that forgiveness works. Sin is part of who we are naturally: it's in our bodies and spirits because everyone is separated from God. When we become part of Christ's body in baptism we die with him and the "death" of baptism breaks the power of sin in our lives. Now by God's grace we are alive again but free from sin. Don't feel bad if you have a hard time following Paul's argument; we're going to have a little time Sunday to chew on this idea some more. The point is that in Christ we are free from whatever holds us back from life and freedom.

Blessings as you live in that loving freedom today,
Sam

Romans 6:1-11

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.



6We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

not peace but a sword

Good morning friends,
This is a hard reading. Jesus tells the disciples he comes to bring a sword to the world and to divide people from their relatives. Of course that is what many early Christians experienced. They came to faith in Jesus and their families disowned them. I usually feel a long way away from the level of commitment Jesus lifts up here. It is hard to put Jesus first in everything, but Jesus tells us that is when we will really live. The stories in the Book of Acts back that up too. The disciples faced hardship and oppression, but often seem full of joy and lived in rich community. The book we're reading in our session meetings, Irresistible Revolution, which is also about life in Christian community gives the same impression. Maybe Jesus really is calling us to let go of the strength with which we hold on to our other commitments and cling first to him. Jesus can set us free.

God bless,
Sam

Matthew 10:34-42

34“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; 36and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household. 37Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.



40“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. 41Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; 42and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”